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Building & Construction

At DuPont, we're focused on dynamic science that generates real-world solutions. That's why DuPont is at the forefront of building science, with brands you depend on, like Tyvek®, SentryGlas®, Corian® solid surfaces, Zodiaq® quartz surfaces and Kevlar®.

Electronics

With a deep understanding of materials science, a commitment to technology leadership, a wide range of process expertise and a long history of innovation, DuPont offers the industry’s broadest array of high performance electronic materials.

Energy

With the world’s population projected to surpass 9 billion by 2050, now is the time to prepare for a secure energy future. We invite you to collaborate with our global teams to find science-driven, sustainable energy solutions.

Food & Beverage

At DuPont, we're putting science to work in the food and beverage industry — improving the nutritional value of food, ensuring food safety, and finding smart, sustainable solutions to feed a growing population.

Health Care & Medical

DuPont offers a broad range of healthcare products and high-performance materials that help create safer healthcare environments, contribute to innovations in medical devices and help protect the health of patients and healthcare providers worldwide.

Marine

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Dupont Mining products and services help improve extraction, personal protection, safety and more. Processing and transporting of highly abrasive and corrosive, bitumen, slurry and tailings require the innovation and technology that DuPont can provide.

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In the face of growing global industrialization, DuPont takes safety and protection seriously. Learn how DuPont continues to improve upon its materials and workplace safety performance to help keep all of us safe in the toughest conditions.

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Learn about the many industries that DuPont serves in the United States.

Tyvek® for Microbial Barrier Packaging of Medical Devices

The number-one priority in selecting packaging materials for medical devices is the ability of the package to maintain sterility from the point of sterilization until the product is opened for use. Medical packages must not only protect the contents from punctures and other damage, they must provide an effective microbial barrier. With sizes that can range from 0.002 microns to 100 microns, bacteria and viruses are a constant contamination threat to packaged medical devices—and the health of patients.

Superior Performance
In healthcare environments where the sterility of medical devices and supplies is critical to patient outcomes, Tyvek® has been a trusted name for more than 40 years. Even under the most rigorous, highly contaminated conditions, it can be relied on to resist penetration by bacterial spores and other contaminating microorganisms more effectively than medical-grade papers.

A One-of-a-Kind Microbial Barrier
Tyvek® is made of continuous, randomly oriented, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) filaments. This unique structure makes it harder for microbes and other contaminants to get through, giving Tyvek® greater resistance to microbial penetration than other sterile packaging materials, such as medical-grade papers.

Scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) of Tyvek®

Microbial Barrier Test Results

F2638 Charts

Microbial Barrier TestingMicrobial barrier is the measure of the ability of a porous substrate to prevent bacterial spore penetration. One standard test method, ASTM F1608, measures the “filtration” efficiency of a substrate to remove spores from an aerosol being forced through the substrate in an air stream.

Tyvek® 1073B, as seen in the chart below, has an LRV of 5.2 and is the best porous substrate available for medical packaging.

There are two disadvantages associated with ASTM F1608. The first is that the test method’s air flow rate significantly exceeds the air flow rate seen during typical distribution of a medical device. The second disadvantage is that it takes a long time to incubate the spores to get a count of how many spores penetrated the test material.

ASTM F2638 eliminates both of these problems. It is a real-time test, eliminating the need to incubate spores. It functions by counting inert particles as they penetrate the barrier material. More importantly, the air flow rates are close to those experienced during transportation, eliminating the other disadvantage. This test method also varies the flow rate and thereby generates a penetration curve. On this penetration curve, most substrates tested have a maximum. Therefore, it is possible to report a pMax, which is the maximum penetration for the given substrate. The flow rate at which the maximum occurs depends on the mass, fiber diameter and density of the substrate.

Demonstrated Longevity
A long-term shelf-life test conducted by DuPont demonstrated that packaging made with Tyvek® can maintain sterility for at least five years, providing package integrity is not compromised. The test was designed to have a more severe microbial challenge than typically found in healthcare environments. The results of the study showed that Tyvek® is a remarkably reliable microbial barrier that maintains its physical properties after aging.